Episode 4 — More Than My Diagnosis

Cancer has a way of becoming the first thing people know about you.

Suddenly, conversations revolve around appointments, treatments, test results, stages, and medical labels. And without realizing it, you can begin to wonder: Is cancer becoming my identity?

In Episode 4 of Cancer Wasn’t Part of the Plan, Dr. Deb Waterbury explores the difference between what your medical chart says about you and what God says about you.

A diagnosis may change your calendar, your body, and even your plans—but it does not change who you are in Christ. Before the diagnosis, you were God’s daughter. After the diagnosis, you are still God’s daughter.

Dr. Deb also challenges listeners to pay attention to the words they speak over themselves and replace the labels of fear and illness with biblical truth:

“I’m not simply a cancer patient. I’m God’s daughter who happens to have cancer.”

If cancer—or any difficult circumstance—has caused you to question who you are, this episode is an invitation to remember the identity no diagnosis can take away.

Your diagnosis may describe your current circumstance, but it will never define your eternal identity. Cancer is part of your journey. Jesus is who you are.

Episode 3 — Living Between the Appointments

Cancer teaches you something most of us never wanted to learn: how to wait.

You wait for appointments. Test results. Phone calls. Scans. Surgery. And sometimes the space between those moments can feel harder than the appointments themselves.

In Episode 3 of Cancer Wasn’t Part of the Plan, Dr. Deb Waterbury talks about what happens spiritually and emotionally when you're living in the uncertainty between one appointment and the next.

What if the waiting isn’t wasted?

Through biblical examples including Abraham, Mary and Martha, Joseph, and David, Dr. Deb explores how God often does some of His deepest work while we wait. His silence doesn’t necessarily mean His absence. His delays are not always His denials. And before God gives us explanations, He often gives us something even more important—His presence.

You’ll also hear practical encouragement for those anxious in-between days: pray before you Google, fill your mind with Scripture instead of worst-case scenarios, remember what God has already done, and focus on today’s grace instead of tomorrow’s fears.

If you’re waiting for answers and wondering what God is doing, this episode is for you.

Waiting isn’t wasted. Sometimes the waiting room becomes the classroom where God teaches us how to trust Him.

Episode 2 — The Loneliness Came Out of Nowhere

A cancer diagnosis can feel surprisingly lonely—even when you’re surrounded by people who love you.

In Episode 2 of Cancer Wasn’t Part of the Plan, Dr. Deb Waterbury talks about the loneliness that can accompany cancer: that unsettling feeling that no one really understands what you’re experiencing.

But Scripture reminds us that feeling lonely and actually being alone are two very different things.

Jesus Himself experienced rejection, abandonment, suffering, and loneliness. He understands what it feels like to hurt—and He promises never to leave or forsake us.

In this episode, Dr. Deb explores how God’s presence meets us in the waiting rooms, treatments, sleepless nights, and quiet moments when fear and isolation begin to creep in.

If cancer has left you feeling isolated, misunderstood, or simply alone, this episode is for you.

Cancer wasn’t part of the plan—but neither was facing it alone. God has already gone before you, and He promises to walk every step beside you.

A cancer diagnosis can change everything in a single moment. The questions come fast. The fear is real. And suddenly, life doesn’t look anything like you planned.

In the very first episode of Cancer Wasn’t Part of the Plan, Dr. Deb Waterbury shares the story of her own breast cancer diagnosis—including a response she never expected.

What happens when the thing you feared becomes part of your story? How do you hold onto faith when the future suddenly feels uncertain? And where is God when life takes a turn you never saw coming?

In this episode, Dr. Deb talks honestly about fear, faith, uncertainty, and what it means to trust God before you know how the story will end.

Whether you’ve recently received a cancer diagnosis, are walking alongside someone you love, or are simply facing a season you never planned for, this conversation is for you.

Cancer may be part of your story, but it does not get to define you. God is still writing your story.